Hakushaku to yôsei

So you're saying a specialist in fairies still exists in the 19th century?

It opens in Edinburgh, Scotland: A man is being interrogated (terrorized) as to the location of the Merrow Sword. He blurts out that the fairy doctor, Lydia Carlton, would know. The questioner narrows his ash-mauve eyes to slits...

An adaptation of a manga & Light Novel by Tani Mizue (Art by Takaboshi Asako), E&F is a 2008 Artland Studios release that is rated 7.19 on MAL. It is 1 season consisting of 12 25-minute English dubbed episodes with CC available. It's a primer on fairyland.

Carlton Lydia is a fairy doctor. "A fairy doctor's weapons are her knowledge of, and an ability to, negotiate with fairies." They facilitate relations between fairies and humans. Don't believe in fairies? "...I can say with conviction that they most assuredly do exist," our narrator informs. Just leave a glass of milk in the window sill at night and a Brownie will appear. (Who would want to do THAT, though? All Brownies do is play tricks). E&F's charm is all the fairies. Nico is a fairy cat, so he's the best. They have him in a tiny trench coat sometimes - 😻Dawww! Kelpie is a man-eating horse fairy. He wants to marry Lydia. He's tall, dark, and handsome, too. He and Boy-Blue loathe eachother! Banshee - Banshees are overseers of noble families. Their tears turn to amber if they've foreseen a death. When they meet Banshee, she's crying amber. Ferman Paul is a talented painter who hangs out with the Earl. He and Banshee have a secondary💘thing starting.

Lydia goes to London to visit her father and crosses paths with the Earl. She's just about to settle into her room when a strange man moans "help me" from the corner! Before she knows it, he's grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the house with several men chasing in tow. He pulls her onto a boat and into a cabin.

News reports had warned of a mass murderer with ash-mauve eyes out on the loose, so Lydia is wary of this dude. She doesn't "take" to him immediately (It actually takes most of the show for her to take to him). While he is in the middle of introductions and explanations she's skeptical - - - She's /Leaving/. She turns to depart... "But the boat's already left port," he points out. That's a microcosm of the whole show. He pushes prods, cajoles, and maneuvers her every step of the way. And she lets him. She would leave if she wanted to. She clearly doesn't want to, but neither is she ready to accept the truth about the 2 of them. Total denial.

J. C. Ashenbert, or Edgar, has a couple identities. One is "Lord Ibrazel, Earl of the Fairy Nation, aka the Blue Knight Earl, who was a mysterious figure granted a title by the King of England, as well as a domain in the fairy world." (Wiki). Another 🆔 of his is 'common thief', or perhaps, 'all-around scoundrel'. Soon we'll hear: "All I have is lies. A false name, a false life. Everything about me is a lie. With me there are only truthful lies and untruthful lies.. I'm sure that she understands that my truth is only found in truthful lies."

Nope. All of that will go completely over Lydia's head. She gets the lies part. That's how she sees him, so when the Earl hits on her (which is when they are together and he's awake), she brushes it off as nonsense. This makes him come on stronger. She's dug into her views so she resists more. They've gotten into a deepening circular ➿ rut.

Lydia agreed to help the "Earl" (Is he truly the Blue Knight Earl? He claims to be, but something is OFF. He doesn't seem trustworthy). He did save her from abduction... and circumstances are such that it's difficult to tear away. One thing after another keeps her at his side. She will not accept that their relationship is anything but professional, but she DID "accept" his gift of the moonstone ring that's been passed down from a long line of Blue Knight Earls. He, pretty much, backed her into a corner and used her kind nature to manipulate her into accepting the ring, which he takes as proof that they are "engaged" (she's wearing the ring, right?). She deflects that fact and occasionally denies it altogether, but she keeps the ring /on/. The moonstone ring provides protections, so she won't be taking it off any time soon. In truth, the Earl had wanted to use Lydia from the start. He cannot see fairies, and he has an agenda that cannot be completed in the human realm alone: He's going to pay his enemies back for what they've done. It does appear, as things progress, that he really is falling for Lydia. We will see.

Edgar, with the ash-mauve eyes, has been an orphan ever since his parents were murdered. He was enslaved, sent to 🇺🇲, and ultimately had to escape because he was framed for a mass killing that he didn't commit. As part of his quest for power and revenge, he seeks the sword of Merrow. (Without Lydia's help, he wouldn't even be able to SEE it, or anything else in the fairy realm). The sword will lend authenticity to Edgar's claim that he is the "Earl of the Blue Knights". Everything he does is to further his agenda of bringing down the eeeville organization that enslaved him as well as their ruthless leader, villain, and malefactor #1, The Prince.

Siblings, Ermine and Raven, escaped with Edgar, but only Raven survived. Utterly dedicated to Edgar, Raven can take out a battalion in the bat of an eye. He's deadly. Edgar has been through some horrible things. He has plenty of demons to fight, yet he's maintained his individualism. He also carefully nurtured his spirit of loyalty to, and love for, his companions. On the surface, he's a scoundrel, a rapscallion, a knave, a varlet, just a naughty scamp (😻 Rrrrowwah!), but there's more going on undercover. They also enjoy playing his bad-boy persona for laughs. He complains about a mistake he made when he was drunk, but Raven observes that "you're not much different when you're sober, my Lord."

As for the needs-improvements, E&F wanders and is somewhat unfocused. There's several varieties of adorable fairies but they don't utilize them as well as they might have. I'm not crazy about her wild hair and shaggy eyes. The animation is messy, overall. There's a pale color palette, like dried flowers. People are drawn with old-style round eyes and simple features but they may take liberties with color. Backgrounds are flat but much darker and deeper in fairy world.

The show's appeal is him coming on to her - that and the wide variety of adorable fairies (Kelpie, banshees, Brownies, silkies, and so on and so forth). Lydia is earnest and cute. She's focused on her work and she's not thinking about romance. She doesn't believe him. She doesn't /trust/ him. But he is not easily discouraged and he keeps trying. Sadly, the romance lacks any real heat. It's enough, though. It passes the time pleasantly because it's comfortable, familiar, cute, a touch erotic, and low on errors or irritations. I like it; it should just be better. On a positive note, this is very much on a tween level, so E&F is good for the 11+ crowd.

The ending is very romantic except one thing is ominously clear: The prince is coming. "You'll regret that I did not kill you here," he promises Edgar.

IMHO〰🖍

📣6.4 📝6.3 🎭7 💓6 🦋6 🎨7 🎵/🔊6 🔚8 ▪ 🌞5⚡6 😅2 😭3 😱3.5 😯2 🤢2.5 🤔2 💤0 🤗3

Age 11+ it's a romance, and he's coming on to her, but it's tame. There's some aggressive, violent acts and scary elements, but this is geared to tweens and young teens. Rated: PG-13.

Re-📺? Probably not

Associated productions: Side Story, Hakushaku to Yousei Specials (Special)

Here's some recs ~

Emma-7.8, Toradora-8.5, Belle-8.5, Castle in the Sky 8.4, Chihayafuru-8.5, Princess Principal 8.6, Up From Poppy Hill, After the Rain 7.6, Ao-chan Can't Study-7.8, Colourcloud Palace-7.5, Hakkenden, Here Comes Miss Modern-8, Honey, Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon 8, Kayuga Sama Love Is War, Love Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss, Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun-7.7, My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Ouran High School Host Club-8, Real Girl-7.5, Special A Class-8.2, Tada Never Falls in Love 7.1, Violet Evergarden-9.5, YOUR LIE IN APRIL-9.

A fairy doctor (if you don't know what that is, you'll have to watch the series). A dashing rogue. A mysterious inheritance. And best of all - a cat who loves scotch. Action, suspense, romance, humor abound in this short but satisfying anime. Set in Victorian England, the story touches on various, intriguing myths and legends and has some distinct historical value. Don't miss out on watching this anime if you can.

I really wanted to get to see this because it came up on the recommendations on animelist as I have watched Emma:a Victorian romance. However I thought that this was rather boring like the scenes wrre dragging on. The plot with a rich guy kidnapping a fairy doctor sounds interesting but it just didn't take my breath away yknow. I wouldn't call this the best Victorian anime I've ever seen which is dissapointing since I really loved watching Emma..